The presidential campaigns are an exciting time for many people. Some look forward to watching the debates or the excuse to talk politics at work, but my favorite part is bird-dogging. I got my first opportunity of this election recently at a small office opening party in New Hampshire for Bernie’s campaign. Bernie didn’t take any questions after he spoke in front of the crowd gathered, so in the hand-shake line, I asked the 5 second version of my question: “Will you commit to doubling funding for programs fighting global pandemics like PEPFAR and the Global Fund?” and he said yes.

Bird-dogging is a tactic used to get a public, on-the-record answer from a politician or other person in power to a pointed question about an issue you care about. In the Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC), we often use the tactic to compel politicians to make a commitment related to global AIDS funding or access to lifesaving medicines and healthcare for people living with or affected by HIV—topics that are a matter of life and death for millions of people around the world. Over the next year and a half, we’re going to events all over the country to ask all presidential candidates (regardless of party) if they will commit to doubling funding for to help end the deadliest global pandemics such as AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

Over this past academic year, students and other members of the Student Global AIDS Campaign made big waves in the fight for universal treatment access. We kicked off in July 2018 by welcoming a brand new steering committee, which included SGAC alumni for the first time ever! The new steering committee decided to swing for the fences by identifying two main campaigns with ambitious goals to focus on for the year:

Increasing funding for the Fight to End AIDS: We set out to increase federal funding for critical global HIV initiatives, against the backdrop of several years of flat-funding.

Ensuring PrEP for the Future: We wanted to break the patent on PrEP in the United States and lower the price in order to increase access to this essential HIV prevention drug

For two weeks in April, activists from around the world toured the U.S. with the Student Global AIDS Campaign, making stops at universities and congressional offices around the country, including on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to share a simple, yet powerful truth: We Can End AIDS.

In the latest State of the Union Address, Trump announced an initiative to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. by 2030. But while we fight to end AIDS here in America, we can’t ignore what’s needed to fight AIDS abroad. In FY 2019, Congress increased the PEPFAR budget by a meager $50 million. While it is the first time we saw an increase in PEPFAR in 8 years, this increase does not nearly match the need. It is possible to end the AIDS pandemic in our lifetime, but it requires real political will. It requires a rapid scale-up in funding for life-saving HIV treatment and prevention programs in low- and middle-income countries, and an end to dangerous, discriminatory policies such as the Global Gag Rule.

This year, as part of the #WeCanEndAIDS Speaker Tour, a handful of powerhouse activists from around the world shared their stories about HIV and invited students across the U.S. to join the global grassroots movement to end AIDS!

On their final day on the road, the group of six weary (yet encouraged) travelers sat down at a restaurant in Boston, Massachusetts for their last meal together on tour and shared their reflections about the experience.

“Could any of you imagine getting that test result, sitting in that chair, when you didn’t even know HIV existed?” Robbie Lawlor had just relived the moment when his life drastically changed, and the auditorium fell silent as the impact of his words washed over me and my classmates.After graduating with a degree in his home country of Ireland in 2012, Robbie had been ready to pursue his lifelong dream of launching a career as a zoologist in Australia. His expectations quickly changed when he found out that people living with HIV were barred from entering the country. Robbie recounted the fear he felt moments after his HIV diagnosis, his battle with depression, the soberingreality of lifelong HIV treatment options, and the sudden disruption and realignment of his life—and how he turned his new diagnosis into a fulfilling life path. As the night went on, the three other speakers got up and shared their stories too.

As this academic year winds down and some members of the Student Global AIDS Campaign receive their degrees, I’d like to look back and highlight some of the work these activists have done this past year to bring the world one step closer to ending AIDS.

In September, they travelled from around the country to Washington D.C. for Fall Uprising, a weekend of intensive skills-building advocacy workshops that culminated in a chance to visit Congressional offices to present the cold, hard facts to both Republicans and Democrats: if Congress doesn’t muster the political will urgently needed to address the AIDS crisis, millions more people will die unnecessarily—not due to complications of HIV, but due to their apathy and inaction.

The thing about power is that it seems only a select few hold it by the reins. Those that are wealthy. Those that are lawmakers. Those that are in the public eye. But young college students? Not likely. I don’t imagine most people would picture a stressed out, bleary eyed young adult whose main source of nourishment is pizza when they imagine a powerful person with great influence. But the reality of who has power isn’t so straightforward.

By Domenic Crump, UVA Steering Committee Member and New Chapter Liaison

Having gone to an all-girls preparatory school, I have always valued the International Day of the Girl. Whether we were hearing from a guest speaker or watching a film featuring the power and capability of fellow girls around the world, global girlhood was celebrated and we were encouraged to feel proud of our own. Throughout the years, a recurring question popped into my mind in the midst of these events: How can I revel in my own girlhood when so many of my sisters are suffering?

On December 1st I hopped off of the bus I took to Washington, D.C. from Charlottesville with a purpose. I had never been so excited upon an arrival at Union Station before, but today was a cornerstone in my young life. Finally, after years of being a member of a student AIDS activist group, the Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC), I was actually going to be a part of my first rally — and on World AIDS Day at that.

'What’s true of all evils in the world is true of plague. It helps men to rise above themselves.'

–Albert Camus, The Plague

When I walked into the Intensive Care Unit of the local hospital in Ramotswa, Botswana, I knew she was deteriorating fast. The patient was a 55-year-old woman who had been admitted over the weekend with pneumonia after not taking her HIV medications for several months. She was now my responsibility as my patient, and it became clear to me that she was likely suffering from pneumocystis pneumonia or PCP, a virulent form of pneumonia seen in people with AIDS. Standing in the ICU, I was calculating what my options were. The only significant difference between the ICU and the rest of the hospital was having oxygen available, but I soon realized the oxygen tank was empty. As the minutes passed, she looked as if she was struggling harder and harder to breathe, and I knew she was dying before my eyes. I called for help, but every salvage attempt we tried failed. After several minutes of resuscitation, her heart stopped because of her inability to breathe, and she died. This was the first time I had ever seen someone die of AIDS.

This call and response could be heard echoing the streets of Durban South Africa during the 2016 International AIDS conference (IAC). To the people of South Africa, this call and response is translated to Power! To the people! To many people at the IAC, including me, it meant unity.